Karess Carter

A little stay-cation in Des Moines!

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Karess Carter

I just got back to work from a little ‘stay-cation’ here in Des Moines. I loved my time off! I soaked it all up and chilled out for the first few days. I mean I spent a few days alone reading my books. I bought new chair for the living room off of Craigslist. This is MY chair. Big and comfy with an ottoman. It is my napping/reading/watching tv chair and NOONE is allowed to sit in it. (this hasn’t stopped Rhi and Gizmo from taking it over though)

On Saturday morning Rhiannon and I decided to get up early and go to the Downtown Farmer’s Market. We had fun and got lots of great produce but hit a snag on the way home. On the way home my ‘low fuel’ light came on. And just as it came on we were taking the detour for the Grand Ave/63rd Street Bridge construction, which took us up a hill in a residental area. And as we were going up the hill, my car quit. I tried easing it back into a driveway but it just died. So I ended up blocking traffic. I called my husband, woke him up and explained the situation. I was hoping it was just the slope of the hill tipped my remaining gas to the back of the tank, which was causing the trouble. But I didn’t know. So I waved people a round my car as my husband grabbed a gas can and made his way to us.

This is where I have a little rant to go on. I realize I was blocking a lane of traffic, but there was nothing I could do. I waved people around me and had our windows rolled down. Rhiannon was visible in the back seat. You would not believe the people who flipped me off, yelled at me, and were just rude. It was confusing to my daughter why people were acting like this. You wouldn’t believe how close to tears I was! Not only was it nerve racking as I was worried there could be something major wrong with my car, but I would have done anything to get out of that lane of traffic. It wasn’t terribly busy, there wasn’t a line of cars all the way down the street…nothing like that. But the lack of understanding from passing cars blew me away. And then someone I did not expect to stop did. A young man in a work truck asked if he could help me. It was such a small, nice gesture that restored my smile. I told him my husband was on his way and thanked him.

The good news was it was the gas tank. We got the problem rectified and I will never let the gas get that low again. And Rhiannon thinks Daddy is a hero!

On Monday we went to Adventureland. Yes, it rained. No, it didn’t stop us. We rented a cabana and I swear that is the way to go from now on! We got there right when they opened at 10am and our plan was to really spend the day in the waterpark as we had never been to that part before. We checked in to the cabana, stored our stuff, and decided to do a few rides in the amusement park. We did the Raging Rivers and the Sawmill Splash. My husband and I weren’t sure how Rhiannon would do, but she loved them both! She went on a few other rides but really was ready to swim.

The sun was out and we got in the wave pool. So much fun! And then it got a little overcast. And then it rained. Quite hard. But Rhiannon looked at us and informed us that we were already planning on getting wet so it didn’t matter. She was right! We ate in the cabana as we waited for the downpour to move past us. Then we got back in the water. We had a blast despite it being a little chilly and overcast. We stayed until mid afternoon then headed home. Rhiannon is asking constantly now when we can go back.

Yesterday we took advantage of a program that a friend told me about where kids can bowl free. Check it out HERE. It is a great program where kids can bowl 2 games free each day until mid August. Shoe rental is not included. So as a family we went bowling yesterday at Val Lanes. We signed Rhiannon up for the program and I see us going once a week now.

And then after bowling I didn’t feel like cooking at all so we took advantage of Papa Murphy’s $5 faves special, which is Monday thru Wednesday. Perfect!

I highly recommend the ‘stay-cation’ if you just need a little downtime. I had projects I wanted to get done, but I blew them all off. I wanted to read my books. So I did. I did have one burst of motivation to clean my fridge out and scrub it all down. I also mowed the lawn. But that’s about it!